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Did Galileo influence Shakespeare?

Jun152014

The writing life

Did Galileo influence Shakespeare?

Submitted by Cybrarian on Sun, 06/15/2014 - 08:22

Maria Popova unearths a passage from Canadian science writer Dan Falk's book The Science of Shakespeare, in which Falk suggests that the influence of the father of modern science is seen when the god Jupiter appears in a central character's dream in the final act of the bard's Cymbeline: "Jupiter is not alone in the scene: Just below him, we see four ghosts moving in a circle … Could the four ghosts represent the four moons of Jupiter, newly discovered by Galileo?"